In preparation for a January vote, Yell County officials are asking for public support for a sales tax that would support construction of a new jail facility.

On Jan. 14, voters will be asked to approve a temporary three-fourths-cent sales tax to construct the facility and a permanent one-fourth-cent sales tax to operate it.

“The bond is a 20-year bond, but after looking at revenues for the past seven or eight years, we are hopeful we can pay that off in about 15 or 16 years,” County Judge Mark Thone told the Dardanelle City Council on Monday.

Both Thone and Yell County Sheriff Bill Gilkey were present for Monday’s meeting, at which aldermen passed a resolution supporting the tax measures.

A proposal issued by the department outlines the need for the facility.

The need for a new jail facility arises from the fact that neither the Dardanelle or Danville facility meet state standards. The jail in Dardanelle, the proposal states, was out of compliance when it was built in 1976 and has never met minimum standards. Because both jails fail state requirements, Yell County has received numerous citations.

Danville’s jail is insufficient in the following areas:

• It does not contain a day room (indoor recreation area)

• Design and capacity makes it impossible to segregate prisoners by classification of offense

• Design does not allow for an isolation cell

• Partial closure by disallowing use of some cells by the State in the last few months

• Placed on six-month probation by state, which will be reviewed in February 2014

The Danville jail also has a lack of sufficient fire escape doors, does not have a kitchen, has an insufficient booking area, a lack of sufficient storage space, does not have a secure area for attorneys to meet with inmates, does not have handicapped accessible cells and cannot house both males and females because the design does not allow for segregation by gender.

Completed in 1976, the Dardanelle jail has never met state standards. The design has two wings, males were held in one, females in the other. Design and capacity does not allow for the segregation of prisoners by classification of offense. It also lacks a kitchen, proper booking area with a shower, sufficient storage space, secure area for attorney visits and handicapped accessible cells. It has one cell that may be used as an isolation cell.

It is not feasible to bring either jail up to code, so the county must construct a new facility to meet the state standards.

The proposed new facility would be located in Danville, contain 75 beds and have the ability to be expanded in the future if necessary. The cost of the new facility is estimated to be $7 million.

The modern facility would include a control tower which could control and monitor the entire complex with minimal personnel. Doors would be opened remotely, and staff working on the floor close to the inmates would be monitored both visually and via video from the tower operator, who could summon additional help if needed.

Visitation would be conducted via video, reducing the potential for contraband and other threats being introduced into the facility from outside. Bond hearings and medical issues could also be addressed in a more controlled environment, reducing the opportunities for inmates to escape.

The new facility would include a secure drop-off area for officers to drive into to drop off or pick up prisoners. This would ensure before a prisoner is even taken out of a transporting vehicle, the exterior doors would be closed by the control tower and the prisoner would already be within a secured area, greatly reducing the opportunity for escape.

If the tax is approved, both existing jails will be closed once the new facility is constructed, but the YCSD will maintain facilities in Dardanelle for tax collection and for law enforcement officers to work out of.